Homeless families at Days Inn a money burden for Shrewsbury

Wednesday

Dec 11, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Elaine Thompson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

SHREWSBURY — School and town officials are racing to provide social and other services and holiday cheer for nearly 60 homeless families they were surprised to learn the state recently placed in a local motel on Route 9.

However, officials are concerned about the unexpected burden on the town's finances and the school district.

The families, who include more than 140 children, were placed in the Days Inn by the state Department of Housing and Community Development between Nov. 4 and Dec. 9.

Local officials said while they are sympathetic to the downtrodden families and are trying to help as much as they can, they are upset that no one from the state told them the families were being moved to Shrewsbury. They are also concerned that the state doesn't appear to know how many families are at the Days Inn.

According to the DHCD, 45 families with 91 school-age children and 49 non-school-age children are at the Days Inn.

State Rep. Matthew Beaton, R-Shrewsbury, who was contacted by local officials last week, said there were 55 homeless families at the Days Inn when he went there on Thursday. On Tuesday, there were 57 families, he said.

"People were already there before it got on our radar screen. No one from the state reached out and said this was coming down the pike. We just got blindsided," said Mr. Beaton.

In an email Tuesday, Emily Fitzmaurice, a DHCD spokeswoman, said state education officials usually notify school superintendents when homeless children are moved into their district.

"As far as the notification to the town officials, in the past, our practice has not been to notify municipalities, but we will be doing so going forward," she wrote.

Several town officials, including Town Manager Daniel Morgado, Selectman Moira E. Miller and School Superintendent Joseph Sawyer met Tuesday at the statehouse with Mr. Beaton and state Sen. Michael O. Moore, D-Millbury, to discuss the issue with representatives of DHCD.

Mr. Beaton said he plans to discuss the matter, which is affecting school districts across the state, at a revenue hearing before the Ways and Means Committee Wednesday. He said he's working in the community to try to reach out to the families to provide them with assistance. Plans include a holiday party, a weekly hot meal, and social services from St. Anne's Church and Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services.

"There are so many layers of added expense that has come with this," he said. "As a community we want to be there to support them, but as a community how are we going to pay for it?"

Mr. Beaton said another concern is that the new owners of the Days Inn recently purchased it with the intent to use it as a state emergency shelter for homeless families. The owners have three other motels in other parts of the state that are used the same way, he said.

The Days Inn receives $82 a day, or about $2,600 a month, for each room used to house a homeless family. The rate is more than the regular room rate. On top of that, the motel owners are likely exempt from paying the 6 percent hotel room rate tax on rooms used by the homeless families, said Mr. Beaton.

Mrs. Miller said the motel owner should not be allowed to make significant profits on the backs of homeless families and local communities.

The homeless families are being housed in the motel under the federal McKinney-Venton Homeless Assistance Act. The law primarily requires school districts to provide transportation of some homeless students who are placed in motels and other temporary housing outside their home community.

Transportation costs are incurred when the parents choose to have their children transported back to their original school districts. The original and host districts share the transportation costs.

State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump last year concluded that since the state DESE requested to participate in the program, it is an unfunded mandate imposed on local school districts if the state did not fully reimburse districts for the costs they incur.

After Ms. Bump's announcement and complaints from several local school districts, the Legislature funded a reimbursement rate of 95 percent last year. The reimbursement rate is back to 55 percent this fiscal year.

On Tuesday, Ms. Bump said regardless of her legal ruling it's up to the state Legislature to appropriate funding. She said she believes legislators are trying to address the problem.

The state, she said, has experienced a record level of family homelesseness in the past two years.

Mr. Sawyer, the Shrewsbury school superintendent, said $100,000 was budgeted for homeless students before the Days Inn situation was known. "So there is a strong possibility we will exceed that budget," he said.